Find, order and supply the exact component a mechanic needs. The job that keeps every shop moving.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Counsellors: send it to a student from your own email in one click.
The median pay is about $38,630 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $28,240 at the lower end to about $62,890 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.
Up to 2 years, on the usual route, and you are paid while you train from the first day.
From nothing up to about $6,500, depending on the route, for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.
No. There is no license to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.
Moderate demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Median
$38,630
Bottom tenth
$28,240
Top tenth
$62,890
These are the figures for parts salespersons, the federal survey group that lists parts specialist, parts advisor and parts counterperson among its titles: a 2025 median of $38,630 a year, with the bottom tenth earning $28,240 or less and the top tenth $62,890 or more.
$13.58 to $15.92 an hour
The bottom tenth to the bottom quarter of the national wage survey for parts salespersons, 2025, as hourly pay
Chain auto parts stores hire at the bottom of this and will train you. Dealership parts departments usually want someone who already knows a catalog from a shelf.
$23.97 to $30.24 an hour
The top quarter to the top tenth of the parts salespersons group, 2025, as hourly pay
Many parts jobs also pay a commission on sales on top of the hourly rate.
Roughly, all in
Nothing to $6,500
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Most parts technicians are hired with a high school diploma and trained at the counter, so the low end is genuinely nothing. A registered apprenticeship costs nothing either, because you are paid from the first day and the employer covers the classes. The high end is a community college parts and service certificate paid for up front at in state rates, plus the registration fee and the charge for a first set of certification tests. This is one of the few careers where the cheap door is also the easy door.
This is one of the few careers on this site you can enter with no debt and no qualification at all. If you want the training paid for, look for a registered apprenticeship, which pays you while you learn and ends with a recognized credential.
Certification
The national automotive testing body runs a parts specialist series. Some employers look for it when they hire.
Heavy equipment and truck
Agricultural, construction and commercial truck dealers need parts people who know big machines.
Commission
Many parts departments pay a percentage of what you sell on top of the hourly rate.
Moving into management
Parts manager is a salaried job running the whole parts inventory.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
Short. You can be working next month and certified within a couple of years.
High school diploma or an equivalency certificate
Grade 12
Most employers want one. Auto shop and business classes help you stand out.
Get hired
Weeks
Chain parts stores, dealership parts departments and equipment dealers all hire entry-level counter and warehouse staff and train them.
Learn the catalog
First year
Electronic parts catalogs, vehicle identification numbers, interchange numbers and supersessions. This is the actual skill and it takes months to get fast.
Certify
1 to 2 years in
Sit the parts specialist tests once you have the experience the testing body requires. There are separate tests for car parts and medium or heavy truck parts.
Specialize or move up
3 years and beyond
Wholesale accounts, heavy equipment, inventory control, or parts manager. Some people move across into service advising or sales.
Auto shop
You cannot supply parts for a system you do not understand. Knowing what a wheel bearing does saves hours.
Computer applications
The job runs on catalog software, inventory systems and spreadsheets.
Math and business
Margins, ordering levels, stock turns and pricing are daily arithmetic.
Communication
Half the day is on the phone with impatient mechanics who want the right part now.
No state licenses this job. What functions as a professional standard is voluntary certification from the national automotive testing body, which runs separate parts specialist tests for cars and for medium and heavy trucks alongside its better-known mechanic series. Employers do not have to require it, but many look for it.
Parts and materials roles appear in registered apprenticeship programs run through employers and the Department of Labor. These pay a wage from the first day, raise it on a set schedule, and finish with a nationally recognized credential rather than a student loan. Apprenticeships are not only for electricians and plumbers, and searching the federal apprenticeship site for parts and inventory roles is worth an afternoon.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Manufacturer training
Brand-specific catalog and warranty courses from carmakers and equipment builders. Usually paid for by the dealer.
Inventory control
Knowing what to stock, what to return and when to order is what separates a counter person from a parts manager.
Heavy truck and equipment parts
A separate certification and a separate world.
Wholesale and fleet accounts
Selling to independent shops and fleets, often with commission on top.
Your own project vehicle
Nothing teaches part numbers like ordering the wrong one for your own car twice.
A forklift ticket
Cheap, quick, and it makes you useful in the warehouse as well as at the counter.
A driver's license
Parts delivery is often part of an entry-level job.
Spanish or another second language
Shop floors and customer bases are bilingual in much of the country.
Plenty of people use the parts counter as a way in and then move: to service advisor, to warranty administration, to outside sales for a parts supplier, to shop management, or to the technician side after an apprenticeship. Because you spend all day talking to mechanics and customers, you see every job in the building before you have to pick one.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
The counter opens early because technicians start early. You take part requests over the counter, by phone and off work orders, look them up by vehicle identification number, check what is on the shelf, and order the rest for afternoon delivery. In between you receive freight, put stock away, process returns and warranty parts, and chase a back-ordered component that is holding up a car on a lift. A good parts technician keeps four mechanics working. A slow one stops them.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
The national automotive testing body is known for its mechanic exams, but it also runs a parts specialist series with separate tests for automobile parts and for medium and heavy truck parts. It sits alongside other test series covering collision, transit bus, school bus and truck work.
Federal projections expect average growth for parts salespersons from 2025 to 2035, with about 30,000 openings a year across the country as people move on or retire.
One vehicle can have several versions of the same component depending on build date, factory and trim. Reading the vehicle identification number correctly, and knowing which part number replaced which, is the difference between a mechanic finishing at 4pm and a car sitting on a lift overnight.
Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.
Vehicles and equipment first, then the rest of the field. See every career in skilled trades.
Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.
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